photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas forward Jaliya Davis makes a one-handed shot against BYU in Allen Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026 in Lawrence.

Just three days after he said his team’s backs were against the wall, Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider’s Jayhawks took down BYU 81-60 on Wednesday evening by catching fire in the second half.

Freshman forward Jaliya Davis collected her first career double-double with 28 points and 12 rebounds across 28 minutes of action. 23 of Davis’ points came in the second half, in which the Jayhawks outscored the Cougars 49-28.

“I think her intensity level out of the locker room at halftime was terrific and also contagious,” Schneider said. “I thought that was a big key to us getting off to a really good start, but I think her activity level on defense is something that’s really improving and it’s transferring over to the opposite end as well.”

BYU head coach Lee Cummard said the Cougars knew that Davis’ scoring ability could come alive in the second half even after they held her at bay through the first 20 minutes of play.

“We talked about it at halftime, we had her at five (points), I’m like ‘Hey, she averages 20-something, she’s going to try to get going,’ and she did just that,” Cummard said.

Davis’ 28 points came on the heels of her fifth straight Big 12 freshman of the week honor, and Cummard said he thinks today’s performance is going to make it six (which would match a league record).

Sophomore guard Delaney Gibb, the Cougars’ leading scorer, was held to 10 points on 1-for-13 from the field on Wednesday. Eight of Gibb’s 10 points came from the free-throw line.

“We obviously had a plan in place, and Sania Copeland and Laia Conesa were a big part of that, to guard her individually,” Schneider said. “We had to play very connected defense tonight to have success and I know she didn’t make some shots and part of that hopefully was our defense, some of it’s just the ball didn’t go in the basket for her, but just as important was only one assist because she does such a terrific job of getting everybody involved.”

Davis wasn’t the only Jayhawk in double figures. Junior guard S’Mya Nichols finished with 17 points even while battling through two injuries that took her out of the game for a time. Senior forward Lilly Meister added 10 more for Kansas.

Davis drew a foul and made a free throw from the line to start the scoring for the Jayhawks in the first, while BYU followed it up with a layup to take the lead. The teams traded the lead through the midway point before back-to-back buckets by the Cougars put them up 11-6.

Kansas responded with three straight layups, with sophomore guard Regan Williams notching the first two and Meister adding the third. At the end of the first quarter, the Jayhawks held a 15-13 edge.

The scoring picked up in the second quarter, with BYU adding three 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the period. Kansas was able to keep it close with two drives to the basket and added a 3 from Nichols. Things slowed down ahead of the under-five timeout, while Kansas tied the game at 28-28 midway through the second.

A minute-and-a-half-long scoring drought for both teams was broken by a bucket from Conesa to knot things up at 30, but a layup reclaimed the lead for the Cougars. Down two with 36 seconds to go, Meister drew a foul and cashed in the free throws to tie things up at 32-32 heading into halftime.

Out of half, the Jayhawks caught fire. Davis started an 11-1 run with a layup that took over five minutes off the clock and gave Kansas its first double digit lead of the evening. BYU fired back with a 3 and drew within six when Davis fouled a Cougar on a 3-point attempt, but the Jayhawks didn’t break.

A free throw by Nichols and 3 from junior guard Elle Evans gave the Jayhawks additional cushion near the end of the quarter, and Meister came alive with a fastbreak and-1 layup and a tip-in at the buzzer that sent Kansas into the final period leading 57-45.

Davis added on to her performance with a drive to the rim that resulted in a three-point play and kept the Jayhawks’ momentum flowing. Copeland scored a layup of her own before back-to-back layups by Davis forced another timeout from the Cougars with Kansas up 66-48 and 6:24 left in the game.

The Jayhawks eventually closed out the evening on an 11-1 run, punctuated by Davis’ first career double-double. Kansas collected its second 20-point win of conference play with a 81-60 victory.

Kansas now turns its attention to the Cincinnati Bearcats, who will visit Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday for a unique doubleheader with the men’s basketball team. The men’s team is scheduled to play Utah at 1:30 p.m., while the women’s team will tip off at 4:30.

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